Negro, Niccolo (2025) Extrapolating other consciousnesses: the prospects and limits of analogical abduction. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Advances in animal sentience research, neural organoids, and artificial intelligence reinforce the relevance of justifying attributions of consciousness to non-standard systems. Clarifying the argumentative structure behind these attributions is important for evaluating their validity. This paper addresses this issue, concluding that analogical abduction – a form of reasoning combining analogical and abductive elements – is the strongest method for extrapolating consciousness from humans to non-standard systems. We argue that the argument from analogy and inference to the best explanation, individually taken, do not meet the criteria for successful extrapolations, while analogical abduction offers a promising approach despite limitations in current consciousness science.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Negro, Niccolo niccolo.negro.research@gmail.com 0000-0002-1561-799X
Keywords:	Consciousness; Analogical Abduction; Other Minds; Inference to the best explanation; Consciousness Science
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Consciousness General Issues > Natural Kinds Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Depositing User:	Dr. Niccolo Negro
Date Deposited:	04 Jun 2025 13:16
Last Modified:	04 Jun 2025 13:16
Item ID:	25557
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Consciousness General Issues > Natural Kinds Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Date:	3 June 2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/25557

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